76 posts tagged “dessert”
I told you that my favorite sugar cookie recipe of all time was coming up, and now I'm finally delivering. This chewy sugar cookie recipe is one that I hold absolutely dear to my heart. It was one of the first cookies that I made successfully when I was in middle/high school, and everyone that tried it loved it. Just loved it. I made dozens and dozens of them for my family and friends, and they were always gobbled up with delight. To this day, my ex still asks me to make him these cookies heh. Of course, I'm not going to pretend that I invented some amazing recipe because I was a child baking prodigy. But it is different from the most popular sugar cookies that you'll find when you google "chewy sugar cookies". Admittedly, it is based on the recipe found here, one of the first entries on google. What I did, however, was to adapt the recipe to suit my family's Asian tongue.
As some you might know, Asians usually don't have much of a sweet tooth, especially when it comes to things like cookies and cakes. When I wanted to bake something at home, I wanted to make sure that my parents were going to eat it - that's part of the joy of baking! For one thing, they didn't like chocolate chip cookies much, because it was too sweet for them. So when I came around to making sugar cookies, the first thing I was quick to reduce was the sugar. Out of guilt, I also reduced the butter in the recipe (it's a little shocking how much the recipe calls for...). But I keep all the other ingredients at the same proportions, and add some almond extract for aroma. I love combining vanilla and almond extracts in my baking - it gives everything that little something extra. It's funny, because I didn't really understand the science of baking when I was younger, so I didn't really think about how altering the proportions of sugar and butter can really change the texture of the cookie. As a matter of fact, a few times I went back to the recipe to make cookies for some friends, and figured I'd go for the full sugar and butter content, only to end up with surprisingly disappointing cookies that didn't have that incredible chew I always liked. For the longest time I couldn't understand why, but now I finally do. It's a real relief.
These cookies have a really satisfying chew that doesn't go away after a day. In fact, they stay just the way they are for nearly a week, if you can keep them around that long hehe. I like to make the whole batch of dough and just bake half of it for about 3 dozen cookies, then freeze the rest for quick and easy cookies when I want them. These are not the cookie cutter sugar cookies that you'd want for decorating, they're best for just eating :) So now I'm sharing my absolute favorite sugar cookie recipe with you, I hope you'll like it!
Lucy's Favorite Chewy Sugar Cookies (makes 5-6 dozen 2" cookies) Adapted from Robbie's recipe
Ingredients:
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt (use 1/2 tsp if using unsalted butter)
1 cup salted butter, softened
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
Directions:
1. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
2. In another bowl, cream softened butter with sugar until fluffy. Add one egg at a time and stir until incorporated. Stir in vanilla and almond extracts.
3. Gradually add the flour mixture into the batter, stirring until well-mixed. Don't be afraid to stir it a lot. (Stirring the dough well will develop the gluten in the flour, which is important for chewy cookies!) When everything is incorporated, the dough will be heavy and slightly sticky. Cover it up and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. When the dough is done chilling, scoop out balls of dough about the diameter of a quarter, and place them on foil-lined baking sheets about 2 inches apart from one another.
5. Grease the bottom of a flat glass and gently flatten the dough balls until they are small discs about 1/3 inch thick. This will help your cookies spread evenly instead of mounding in the middle.
6. Bake for about 10 minutes, until the edges are just very slightly starting to become a golden-brown. Immediately remove from oven and let sit on the cookie sheet to finish baking for another 2 minutes. While cookies are still warm, remove from foil using a spatula and finish cooling on a cooling rack. They will be perfectly chewy starting from the moment they are cool enough to eat, until they are all gone :)
Yesterday (which was just an hour ago) was my 23rd birthday - the beginning of the age when we are expected to suddenly go from college students to being grownups. How intimidating! Things have been going quite smoothly in my work life, and in the next few weeks I will make my final decision about which medical school I will be going to this fall. Maybe the continued schooling will give me an excuse to be a "student" for another few years :)
I had a chance to celebrate my birthday early with my family this week. We had a cake freshly decorated for us from the only Chinatown bakery that was still open at 8pm on a Sunday night, so I'm quite grateful that I got a cake at all haha. The decorator made me a bull out of whipped cream on top of the cake, since I was born in the year of the Ox. It was done quite well if I do say so myself - I really liked the cute chocolate accents :) I was originally tempted to make my own cake, but you never make your own birthday cake heh. The cake had a mixed fruit filling, and the sponge cake layers were soft. I wasn't terribly fond of the whipped topping, as it was more fluffy and marshmallow-y than I would have liked, but the flavors came together pretty well. My family and I enjoyed the cake with some freshly brewed aromatic white tea that my dad brought back from China this past week, mmm.
That said, the meal I had tonight was still as amazing as Shino's has always been. I didn't really notice the flavor of the brown rice. It might have been slightly more chewy, but it definitely was a subtle difference (grr, not one I'd want to pay for), which is good because I was so worried that brown rice would ruin the sushi experience. I had a regular salmon roll, a crispy eel roll (eel, avocado, cucumbers, flying fish roe, and topped with mayo and crispy tempura bits drizzled in unagi bbq sauce), and one of their specials, the Boston lobster roll (avocado cucumber roll topped with warm baked lobster mixed with chopped raw red onions in a wasabi butter sauce). The rolls were all amazing, with fresh and fatty fish that melted in my mouth. The lobster roll is one of my favorites because it has such a unique flavor - the wasabi butter sauce really brings together everything in that roll, and it really is a monster to behold with all that lobster! My boyfriend also got a shrimp tempura roll which he said was really good too. Mmm I really wish I could go back to the days when Shino's was cheaper...
After dinner we went to Cheesecake Factory for some dessert - the Godiva chocolate brownie sundae :) Deliciously rich and a perfect end to a wonderful birthday dinner. I never knew this, but apparently Edy's makes a special vanilla ice cream specifically for Cheesecake Factory to use in their desserts. I wonder what exactly is different about it...
Thanks for a nice birthday dinner Greg! Gosh, I still can't believe I'm 23 already... time just passes so fast. There are so many things I'm looking forward to this year, and I'm also sad to be leaving Boston in just a few months. It really is a wonderful city filled with an endless array of amazing places for every taste. I am certain that the years I have spent here will be fond memories I carry with me forever.
Updates have been sparse lately because I had a wisdom tooth out earlier this week and was not up for cooking nor blogging, but I'm happy to say that I'm back to eating solid foods again :) Last night I found myself once again the usual predicament of having ripening bananas and no desire to eat them as is. As luck would have it, I also happened to have a few boxes of instant pudding mixes in the cupboard, which I bought for my widsom tooth recovery period, and my boyfriend gave me an idea to make some sort of cake and pudding trifle to use up the bananas. He said he wanted a light sponge cake to go with the pudding and bananas, and I immediately thought of the Bostini cream pie that I had seen the Daring Bakers make not too long ago - a similar concept of a small sponge cake with a custard and topped with chocolate sauce. I decided to use the orange chiffon cake from this recipe, with some alterations to suit my pantry, which came together with surprising ease. With the speediness of instant coconut pudding to shave off even more time, this became one of the simplest "complex" desserts that I've ever made! I love the combination of flavors, from the coconut to the bananas, to the orange, and the chocolate - everything pairs so well and none of the flavors overwhelm each other. And I find layered desserts so elegant-looking, so I'm definitely making this for company sometime :)
Coconut Banana Trifle with Orange Chiffon Cake cake adapted from Scala's Bostini Cream Pie
(makes 6 individual servings)
Ingredients:
Orange Chiffon Cake
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup confectioner's sugar
2 eggs, separated
2/3 tsp baking powder
1/3 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1/6 cup canola oil
1/3 cup orange juice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
Filling
1 package instant coconut cream pudding
2 cups cold milk
2 ripe bananas, cut into slices
Chocolate Topping
1 oz. chocolate chips
1 tbsp salted butter
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a 6-hole muffin pan with cooking spray.
2. Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the egg yolks, oil, orange juice, vanilla and almond extracts, stirring together until just blended (dont' worry about lumps).
3. In a clean bowl, beat egg whites until frothy, and add in cream of tartar. Continue beating until soft peaks form. (I used a hand-held rotary beater for this in place of an electric one and it worked out great!)
4. Using a spatula, fold in the egg whites carefully into the batter in 3 separate additions. Ladle batter into the muffin pan, filling each well to the top.
5. Bake for 25 minutes, until tops of cakes spring back when lightly pressed with fingertips. Remove immediately from oven. Slide a knife around the edges of the cakes and flip over the muffin pan to release the cakes onto a cooling rack. They will have a golden brown skin around the edges, and you can either keep them for texture and color or trim it off for aesthetic appeal - I tried both and they both look and taste great.
6. While the cakes are baking, prepare the instant pudding according to directions and chill in the fridge. For the chocolate sauce topping, melt butter in the microwave, then stir in chocolate chips to melt. If they don't all melt, microwave for an additional 20 seconds and stir well.
7. To assemble dessert - slice up cakes into three layers. In a parfait glass or a goblet, alternate spoonfuls of pudding, banana slices, and cake layers, ending with a cake layer on top. Drizzle with chocolate sauce on top and garnish with banana slices. Serve immediately or chill until needed. Enjoy!
Although I strive to bake interesting and creative items when I can, there are certain classic baked goods that I want to make sure I've made at least once and succeeded at, if only to be able to whip out a simple dessert for a backyard BBQ somewhere down the road. I don't know how it happened, but I've never baked blondies before, even though I've eaten them countless times. And since I've changed my blog tagline to "everything tastes better homemade", well I'd better practice what I preach!
Blondies, like chocolate chip cookies and brownies, deserve a spot in every kitchen's recipe box. That's why I'm creating a new category of posts called "Essential baking repertoire" (or EBR for short) - nothing fancy, just simple, tried and true recipes that I can always turn to when I want something that is sure to please every time. So often food bloggers are so busy churning out new and innovative recipes that the traditional ones get left behind because they might seem "boring". But sometimes all I want is a good recipe for a no-frills, common dessert. Anyway, I'll slowly try and build up this category of posts (my favorite sugar cookie recipe is probably coming soon). I haven't decided if any other recipes I've posted thus far should be included. If you have any such recipes to share, or suggestions for things you'd like to see, please let me know! :)
So then, the main event of this week's baking was the blondie - sort of like a chocolate chip cookie in bar form. I have seen a zillion different variations of the blondie, some with coconut, some with white chocolate chips, some with nuts. I found my blondie EBR recipe on Allrecipes.com, one of my favorite places to go. A recipe site that has lots of reviewers is always useful in determining if a recipe will be a winner or a dud. The recipe calls for walnuts, which I omitted due to lack of availability (and also because I don't think traditional blondies should have nuts in them), and chocolate chips, for which I used half chocolate chips and half toffee chips, since I was low on chocolate chips. Other than that I followed the recipe down to the word, and boy does it make a sinfully chewy blondie...
Chocolate Chip Toffee Blondies (makes about 16 small squares) original recipe at Allrecipes.com
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup chocolate chips of your choice (I prefer milk chocolate here)
1/3 cup English toffee bits
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Melt butter. Allow to cool briefly, and stir in brown sugar. Beat egg separately, and add to butter and sugar mixture. Stir in vanilla and mix well to get a creamy batter.
4. Gradually stir in flour mixture with the batter until well-mixed. Fold in most of the chocolate chips and toffee bits, reserving some to sprinkle on top of the blondies (or you can just add extra for the top).
5. Spread the batter evenly into an 8x8 inch baking pan (I used an 8" round pan because I don't have a small square pan). Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips and toffee bits on top of the batter if desired. Bake for 20-25 minutes until top is a light golden color and edges are crinkly and pulling away from the side of the pan. Remove from oven and cool completely before cutting.
Note: Recipe can be doubled to fit a 9x13 inch baking pan.
Every baker has a comfort zone. I am no exception. But every once in a while, I feel the urge to challenge myself to try a difficult sounding recipe or a difficult to achieve baked good - if only to be able to say that yes, I did try making XYZ once. Not only that, but so often I find that the things we think are difficult may not be quite so bad after all. Although, other times we just lack the experienced hands of someone who has been baking for a lot longer, but that doesn't necessarily mean we should give up either. If I actually had the time and the resources to participate in the Daring Bakers monthly challenge, I would have joined long ago, as their mission resonates with me quite well. But since I am someone who mostly bakes with what I have available due to lack of shopping convenience, it would have been impossible for me to participate. Thus, you find me from time to time coming up with some difficult project to tackle on my own, which I find rather satisfying, since my personal growth as a baker and a cook depends largely on how much I can push myself to try new things.
Anyway, this week I was at home for spring break, thinking of things to bake, when my boyfriend suggested that I make some egg custard tarts - the popular palm-sized tarts that you can find in any Asian bakery. They're well-known for their tender flaky crust with lots of layers (somewhat like a denser version of puff pastry), and their bright yellow sweet custard centers that have a slight jello-like bite to them, like flan. Best of all, these tarts are relatively cheap (usually about 60 cents apiece), and pretty consistent between bakeries. But like all things baked, I always strive to make them fresh in my oven, as I find fresh-baked goods to be leaps and bounds above those that have been made in advance. Maybe things just taste better to you when you make them yourself :)
Still, I knew this would be a challenge before I even began. For one thing, I have made them before when I was in high school. I remember the first time I made them, the crust was soft but much too crumbly, leaving me with tarts that I could barely get out of the muffin pan. The second time I made these was also in high school, using a different recipe, and this time they came out with a hard, almost crunchy crust that was barely edible. I moved onto other baking projects and soon forgot about making egg tarts. That is, until this week.
I did a bit of recipe scouring and realized that in the past, I always made the tart crust from a single dough that included both lard and butter. But according to those in the know, to make a light flaky crust, you have to make it from a combination of two doughs - commonly referred to in the Chinese recipes as a "water dough" and an "oil dough". The two doughs have different compositions, and when rolled into alternating layers in the crust, separate during baking and form those wonderful flaky layers that are so coveted in the egg tart crust. I followed a forum thread on eGullet that discussed the search for the perfect egg tart recipe, and learned a great deal through everyone else's trials and tribulations. Although they ultimately did not come to a consensus on the best recipe, I did find one through that thread which I attempted - twice in three days. The first time my results were so-so, but the crust was a bit harder than desired, and not as flaky. With just a few tiny alterations and a slightly more experienced hand, the second attempt came out nearly perfect (at least for my standards of bakery style egg tarts). I used the crust from one recipe and the filling from another, as I was lacking a few ingredients. The custard filling of my tarts were smoother and creamier than the store-bought tarts, more like a custard/creme brulee rather than a flan. I personally liked it better this way, but your opinions may vary. All I know is that these were heavenly right out of the oven... and the crust resembled the bakery egg tarts very closely. Success! Finally!
Egg Custard Tarts - Hong Kong Style (港式酥皮蛋塔) (makes 24 regular-sized tarts)
crust recipe from Angie's Recipes - I made conversions from weight measurements to volume for this recipe
filling recipe from About.com
Ingredients:
Water dough:
2.5 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 egg, beaten
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp lard
about 10 tbsp water, or as needed
Oil dough:
10.5 tbsp butter, softened
1.1 cups lard, softened
2 cups AP flour
Filling:
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups milk (I used skim)
0.6 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Directions:
1. To prepare the water dough: place flour in a mixing bowl, make a well, add in sugar, beaten egg, and shortening. Mix well to get a crumbly mixture. Then stir water into the flour mixture until it just comes together to form a soft dough. DO NOT OVERWORK THE DOUGH (this is what made my crust tough in my first attempt). It's okay if the dough is a bit sticky, but don't stir it too much while you are adding water to form the dough.
2. To prepare the oil dough: place flour in a mixing bowl, make a well. Add softened butter and lard, mix well. Use your hands if necessary, as there is no liquid here to bind the dough. Just don't handle the dough for too long, otherwise you'll melt the fats.
3. Place both doughs in freezer until firm and solid.
4. While dough is chilling, stir together eggs for the filling in a bowl with a whisk until well-blended, but avoid creating bubbles. Stir in milk, sugar, and vanilla. Mix well and strain. Spoon off any remaining bubbles from the top.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a regular muffin pan with foil liners or make your own out of squares of foil.
6. You may choose to do this step in 2 batches, so that the rolling will be a big easier to do in a small space. On a floured surface (avoid using wax paper for rolling, since the dough will stick), roll out oil dough into a rectangle, and the water dough into a rectangle twice the length of the oil dough (about 1/4 inch thick). Place the oil dough in the center of the water dough. Fold over both sides of the water dough on top of the oil dough and touch just in the center, as if folding in the pages to make a book (this is called a book fold). Roll out the dough flat as large as possible, about 9 inches in diameter. Fold into quarters, roll flat again. Repeat twice more. Roll dough out into a big rectangle, about 1/4-1/5 inch thick.
7. Cut out circles from the dough using 3 inch cutters (or cups/bowls with thin rims). Lay circles into muffin pan and flatten against sides evenly. Using two fingers, pinch edges of crust into little A shapes along the rim, to give the final tart a slightly crimped appearance. Pour in egg custard into each tart crust until it is about 80% filled (do not over-fill, as they will bubble over).
8. Bake in oven for 25 minutes, or until the crust just started to turn golden, and the egg centers have puffed up slightly. Remove from oven and allow to cool briefly - these are best served warm!
I apologize for not having taken any pictures during the dough rolling process, which is probably the most confusing part. I had my hands in flour and dough, and wanted to roll them out quickly before they warmed up too much, so I couldn't whip out the camera. Plus my technique wasn't that great, I improvised a great deal when things didn't go smoothly hehe. All I can say is that you shouldn't worry about rolling the dough thin as you are rolling out the folds, and just envision that you are layering the oil dough and water dough into many many thin layers using this process, and it will make more sense. Look how beautiful the layers come out in the end... oh the fruits of your labor!
During my attempt I found that I had some extra custard filling left over, so I filled a few ramekins halfway with the custard and baked it for about half an hour in a water bath just like creme brulee. These came out great and had that velvety smooth texture, with just enough sweetness that it did not need a caramelized coating of sugar like creme brulee does. These are great chilled, and don't have a strong egg-y flavor. As you can see, this filling recipe has very little egg in it for the amount of filling it makes, so if you are using skim milk like I did, it's not even that bad for you :)
So to share a little bit from my first attempt with this recipe... I overworked the water dough when I was stirring it together, as the recipe from the website did not give enough water for the dough to come together. I kept trying to stir it and definitely over-developed the gluten in the flour. I also made them in a mini muffin baking pan, using a 1.5 inch dough cutter, since I thought that bite-sized ones would be cute, like the ones I often see at dim sum places. However, I realized afterwards that the crust to filling ratio is too high in these tiny tarts, so they don't taste as good as the regular sized ones in normal muffin pans. And of course, as I mentioned earlier, the crust was harder than expected, and a little bit crunchy, sort of like a shortbread (many of the simple one-dough recipes online call for you to make a shortcrust, so beware if you are searching for the authentic crust). So the first batch was a definite bust, although they were still tasty to eat as a treat - they just weren't like the ones in the bakery. I had actually made double the amount of oil dough during the first attempt, so I saved that in the refrigerator, along with half of the filling mixture, and re-made the water dough recipe with more water this time and less stirring of the dough. So I know for sure that the only thing that changed between the first and second attempt was the forming of the water dough, and potentially a better dough rolling process. The only difference in the second dough rolling was that I made sure to flour my surfaces, allowing for easier rolling. The first time, my doughs were not fully chilled, and I used sheets of wax paper which caused a lot of sticking that was painful to deal with. You can probably tell from the picture below that the crust is a bit overbaked and the small size of the tarts (about the size of a half dollar coin) meant too much crust in each bite compared to the filling.
In hind-sight, I was pretty disappointed about the recipe after my first attempt, but after I did my second attempt and saw how wonderfully they came out, I came to appreciate the fine subtleties in executing a recipe that can result in a very different product. Being able to tweak these methods as a baker is essential for achieving the desired results. So for sure, I learned a great deal in making this recipe, and really impressed my family with my handiwork. Of course, it was quite laborious the first time, and I was pretty sore after all that rolling. It's no wonder that most people don't make egg tarts at home, since it is so much easier to just go to the local Asian bakery and buy them whenever you want to eat them. That said though, my boyfriend told me that my crust had a special richness that the bakery crusts lack (he said the bakery tarts have a certain greasiness in their crust, but doesn't have a buttery richness that my crust has). He also said that he liked the smoothness of my custard filling better than the jello-like bite of the store-bought ones. So maybe there are some merits to making it on your own after all, as long as you are willing :)
I think I must have had my first English toffee cookie at Au Bon Pain several years ago... their cookies are huge and always soft and chewy. While they were a special treat in the late afternoons when they are sold for half off, I wanted to try and make my own at home. Back then, as I searched for recipes, I kept coming upon ones that used an egg white wash on the tops of cookies whose dough base was essentially like a chocolate chip cookie. It baffled me that such cookies were called toffee cookies, and I actually went ahead and tried to make them. Of course, they didn't come out as I had hoped.
Fast forward several years, and I'm standing in a grocery store baking aisle, eying those bags of English toffee bits for baking that sit right beside the chocolate chips. No more egg white washes! I slapped down the $2.49 for an 8 oz. bag of Heath "bits o' brickle" English toffee bits, and I just knew that this time I would be able to make the toffee cookies I've always dreamed of - thin and chewy, crunchy at the edges, with bits of real toffee buried in the cookie. You always know that a cookie is going to be just the perfect amount of chewy when it's nice and flattened. I really didn't want to change this recipe, because I just wanted to get the classic toffee cookie experience. Now I share this mouthwatering cookie recipe with you as well :)
Chewy English Toffee Cookies (makes 4 dozen) recipe at Recipezaar.com
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
8 oz. package of Heath toffee bits
Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease baking sheet, or cover with foil/parchment.
2. Mix together flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter, white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla until well blended.
4. Add eggs and blend thoroughly.
5. Gradually add flour mixture to the batter, mixing until just incorporated. Stir in toffee bits.
6. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto baking sheet, and bake for 10-12 minutes until cookies are golden, and browning around the edges. They will have flattened and crackled on top.
7. Allow to cool for a few minutes before removing cookies to a cooling rack.
All I can really say is that these cookies are amazingly delicious. Whoever came up with this recipe is a genius! These cookies have the perfect amount of crunchy toffee bits in them, and every bite is just wonderful. Eat them with milk for the ultimate indulgence... mmm.....
Last Friday, for the second time in my life, I had the pleasure of trying bread pudding. We were having the usual free Friday lunch at my workplace, and the dessert options are usually fruit or cookies. Well last week the cafeteria decided to give us bread pudding as a special treat, how nice! I was a bit skeptical at first, because it looked a lot like stuffing... but after my first bite I was completely hooked and my first thought was that I must learn to make my own bread pudding! Like no other dessert I've tried before, bread pudding has a mild creamy flavor that simply melts on your tongue, and a unique soft, chewy texture that isn't at all like eating bread. The bread pudding I had that day also had some blueberries baked in, which gave the pudding a wonderful fruity sweetness, since the pudding itself is not too sweet. Just heavenly - my kind of comfort food!
So this weekend I finally went grocery shopping and restocked my fridge (which is why there haven't been any updates this past week... I didn't feel like making more eggless and butterless baked goods). Being a frugal student, I always check the clearance racks at the supermarket, just in case there's anything useful to me. This time I saw a huge loaf of sliced Italian bread on sale for just $1, because its sold-by date was that same day. Well no problem, I could just freeze the loaf and keep it for however long I want - what a steal! I wasn't actually thinking of the bread pudding when I bought the bread, but today the thought came to me and I was simply giddy with the idea that I had the perfect bread for bread pudding. The one thing I didn't have was berries or raisins, which are usually added to bread puddings, so I just used an apple instead. And it being St. Patty's Day weekend, I knew it was the perfect occasion to pull out that Bailey's Irish cream and add a little zing to my bread pudding. The stage was set!
While I was looking up bread pudding recipes, a realization dawned on me - these things aren't so good for you haha. Most recipes called for 4-6 eggs, several cups of milk and heavy cream, and lots of butter. I'm sure it makes for a fabulous bread pudding, but Mah's comment a little while back did remind me that maybe I could make a few modifications for a healthier bread pudding. And I'm proud to report that I did succeed in making a healthier version of bread pudding without sacrificing much at all :) My boyfriend, like the typical guy, was a bit wary of the notion that I'd be making healthy substitutions to a rich and creamy flavored dessert. But after taking a bite of the finished thing, he happily told me that it tasted creamy and custard-y. Success! The secret is in replacing eggs with applesauce, and using low fat milk instead of whole milk and heavy cream. Usually applesauce can be substituted for oil in muffins and breads, but it works great in this recipe in place of eggs because it is not necessary for providing leavening or structure. Of course, I didn't replace all of the eggs... that would probably result in a pretty awful pudding. So remember, no matter what you substitute, try not to get rid of all of it. I used that rule of thumb for my low-fat creme brulee, and it worked really well. Compromise means everyone is a winner right? Haha. Now I share with you how I tweaked the basic bread pudding recipe to get a tasty but not-as-bad-for-you bread pudding :)
Bread Pudding with Apples and Bailey's Irish Cream (serves 4-6) adapted from Allrecipes.com
Ingredients:
10 slices of Italian bread, or any bread of choice (I prefer a crusty bread)
1 large apple, peeled, cored, and diced
4 tbsp salted butter, melted
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
3 cups milk (1%), scalded
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 tbsp Bailey's Irish cream
pinch of salt
brown sugar to top
Directions;
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9" diameter round pan, or equivalent square baking pan.
2. Cut bread slices into cubes (don't remove crust). Toss in melted butter, then mix in diced apples. Lay into baking pan.
3. Scald the milk by heating over medium heat until just starting to bubble at the edges (do not let boil!). Remove from heat immediately.
4. Beat together eggs, applesauce, sugar, vanilla and almond extracts, and salt. Slowly stir in milk. Add Bailey's Irish cream and mix well.
5. Slowly ladle the milk mixture over the bread cubes in the baking pan, making sure to coat all the bread. The liquid should come up to just short of the rim of the pan. Let bread soak in milk mixture for 10 minutes.
6. Sprinkle brown sugar over top and bake for 30 minutes, or until bread bounces back and liquid does not ooze out when pushed with a spoon. Serve warm or cooled, with whipped cream or ice cream if desired.
Having tried the bread pudding both hot out of the oven and later when it had cooled off, I would say that I think I like the texture of the cooled pudding better. That's obviously a personal thing, since I like my bread pudding a bit chewier, whereas others might like it more soupy or soggy. The hot bread pudding certainly has more liquid in it, so it has more of a melt in your mouth, custard-like texture, which my boyfriend really liked. I thought the apples in the pudding were great - they complemented the cinnamon in the pudding, and added a nice little bit of soft crunch and sweetness.
Next time I would add more brown sugar to the top, since it made for a really great crunchy topping. I'd probably also double the Bailey's, since the flavor was subtle here. But I have to say, I couldn't tell at all that there had been applesauce substituting for most of the eggs in this recipe, and I think that the fact that it uses apple as a component hides the applesauce flavor very well. The bread was soft, the flavor was mild and creamy from the milk, and there was just the right amount of sweetness so as to not overwhelm the dessert. It was certainly great with some vanilla ice cream on the side... although I suppose that would negate the strides towards making this dessert somewhat healthy right? Happy eating! ;)
It's hard to believe that today marks the one year anniversary of my Vox. How quickly the time passes! I'm so glad to have started this blog last year: I've learned to appreciate food in so many ways - whether it was in making it, eating it, photographing it, writing about it, or the constant pursuit of new things to make. And along the way I've met so many of you wonderful Voxers whose ideas and skills inspire me and encourage me to maintain this food blog. It has honestly become one of my most beloved hobbies.
For this coming year, one of the things I would like to improve on is my photography. I think the first step will be to improve my camera... after all, it is a point and shoot from 2003! (I use a Nikon Coolpix 3200... really one of those ancient puppies that is very reliable but limited in its abilities). Of course, I am still a student, and will be for many years yet if you tack on medical school, so I don't have the money to buy a nice DSLR camera. My boyfriend knows how much I love food photography, and generously offered to buy me a newer point and shoot for my birthday next month - a Canon A720, which is very well rated and what many consider to be the perfect compromise between a point & shoot and an SLR. I'm so excited! Of course, I am still very limited in my resources for photography. I have no access to daylight in my apartment (just one window in the bedroom that gets indirect light), and I enjoy baking at night anyway. I also have no mini tripod (plus shaky hands), no natural looking lighting (only the harsh fluorescent overhead lighting of my dorm kitchen), and no nice bowls or plates. These are all things that I can do very little about, but that have not stopped me from doing what I love. I hope to improve these conditions with time, so bear with me :) Here's to another year of baking, cooking, and eating!
Now then, you didn't think I'd forget to bake something to celebrate my Vox's birthday did you? Of course not... except I looked in the kitchen and realized that I have no eggs and less than 1 stick of butter. Well I figured I could find some sort of vegetarian or vegan recipe that is free of eggs, and I did find many of those at eggless.com (of course, haha). A recipe for cream cheese butter cookies caught my eye, and I noticed that it was basically a thumbprint cookie recipe. That sounded cute and refreshing to me, and a nice way to use some of the jam I had lying around, since I don't eat bread much. The recipe was super simple, which originally made me a bit suspicious, but the end product eased all my worries. Even though these cookies are eggless, they taste fantastic... with a light buttery scent and a slight sweetness that pairs great with the jam filling in a small bite-sized cookie that looks pretty. Love it!
Eggless Cream Cheese Thumbprint Cookies (makes 2 dozen small cookies)
adapted from eggless.com
Ingredients:
4 tbsp butter
1/2 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
2 oz. cream cheese
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
jam of choice to fill cookies
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cream together butter and sugar. Stir in cream cheese until well-mixed. Add vanilla.
3. Gradually sift in flour and stir until blended. Chill briefly (30 min) if desired, to make dough easier to work with.
4. Roll dough into small balls about 3/4" in diameter, and place on an ungreased, foil-lined baking sheet. Using your thumb, push down to make an indentation on each ball. Fill with about 1 tsp of jam each.
5. Bake cookies for 15-20 minutes, until they just begin to brown. Remove and cool on a wire rack.
For my cookies, I experimented with several fillings - orange marmalade, raspberry spread, milk chocolate kisses, and creamy peanut butter (at the request of my boyfriend). I personally thought the raspberry filled cookies tasted the best, followed by the orange marmalade ones, then the chocolate ones. The jam cookies were in general better than the others, because the tartness offsets the sweetness of the cookie to make for a bite that is well-balanced in flavor. The chocolate kiss cookies were decadent, but were a bit sweet, though probably perfect for kids. Finally, the peanut butter ones were lacking a little something, I think it would have been better if I had added some sugar to the peanut butter itself, as it has a native saltiness to it that was odd with the cookie.
I had a lot of fun making these though, it was so easy and the end products are so colorful! When fresh out of the oven, the cookies are slightly crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside, which I loved. They firm up more as they cool down, but the jam-filled ones will stay moist in the center and crispy on the outside. I'd definitely serve these as a casual snack for guests, with tea or coffee. Be warned though, their small size means that wandering hands will pluck them from the cooling rack without hesitation! :)
I mentioned not long ago that I've been learning to enjoy tea, and it's been especially comforting in these past few winter months. I did however, often crave some sort of snack to go with the tea - something light and simple. I guess that's what tea cookies and biscotti are for! I went in search of a recipe that I would be able to make easily, without the need for almonds or almond extract (since I don't have either of those ingredients in my apartment at school), and without the use of an electric mixer. All I have for nuts are salted pistachios, which are generally not too forgiving in baked goods. I landed on a recipe for cranberry pistachio biscotti that allowed for salted pistachios, which everyone seemed to rave about, and even though I had no dried cranberries, I was determined to make a similar biscotti with what I had on hand (I did need to make several adjustments). Mmm I love the crispy crunchy bite of biscotti, but I especially like them dipped in coffee or tea. It's like dunking Oreos in milk, except the grown-up version :)
Pistachio Chocolate Chip Biscotti (makes 32 cookies) adapted from Allrecipes.com
Ingredients:
1/4 cup light olive oil (I used a combination of canola and regular olive oil)
3/4 cup white sugar
3 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup shelled salted pistachios (if using unsalted nuts, add 1/4 tsp salt to recipe)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Prepare a baking sheet covered with foil or parchment.
2. In a large bowl, stir together oil and sugar until blended. Mix in vanilla, then beat in eggs.
3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and cinnamon. Gradually add flour mixture to the egg mixture, stirring to incorporate. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts. (I used whole pistachios without cutting them up, and it worked fine, but you can chop them up for a finer texture).
4. Divide the dough in half and form two logs about 12x2 inches each, laid out on the baking sheet several inches apart from one another (the dough will be very sticky). To handle the dough more easily, I suggest chilling it for 15-30 minutes, and wet hands with cold water when touching the dough.
5. Bake for 35 minutes, or until logs are light brown. They will spread a good deal in the oven. Move logs to a cutting board and as soon as you can, use a sharp non-serrated blade to cut the logs on the diagonal into 1/2 inch thick slices. (Reduce oven to 275 degrees F while you are cutting the logs).
6. Carefully move biscotti slices back onto baking sheet, laying them on their sides. Bake again for about 30 minutes, or until the biscotti feel firm to the touch - they will continue to firm up as they cool. Remove and cool completely on a rack. Store in an airtight container.
I didn't have the time to pursue it, but lots of people like to decorate their biscotti with melted chocolate: either by drizzling it over the biscotti or by dipping tips of the biscotti into melted chocolate. Either way, it sounds like a great snack! I refrained from adding chocolate on top because I already had chocolate chips in the biscotti, and I figured the chocolate would melt into my hot tea when I dunked the cookies in, and that would be odd. So they're not as pretty as they could be, but I loved the flavor! It was not at all too sweet, with a great cinnamon scent and a roasted nutty flavor from the pistachios. They were simply divine dipped in my pomegranate flavored black tea, what a treat! These cookies keep for a very long time too, which is great for me since I now have 32 and can enjoy them with my tea for a long time without having to make more :) Since they store so well, I'm sure they'd make a great gift as long as they were packed properly (the tips are brittle so if you don't pack them correctly they might break off during shipping). I only wish I had a beautiful clear jar to store my biscotti in, just like I see them at coffee shops. But alas, they'll be sitting in my tupperware until I can afford the luxuries of a real kitchen.
I saw these wonderful little cake truffles on Bakerella's blog, where she also has many other delectable baked goods and decorating ideas. She calls them cake balls, although I found that name to be a little non-descript and didn't do justice to the actual thing, which is very much a truffle with cake and frosting in the middle (can we say yum?). Not only did this dessert look fun and creative, it was also the perfect way to use up some of my boxed cake mixes and frostings that I bought on a whim on a 10 for $10 sale. I think the best part of this recipe is that there are endless possibilities for these truffles - the three ingredients are boxed cake mix, cake frosting, and chocolate for the outer shell. Bakerella used red velvet with cream cheese frosting and semi-sweet chocolate, which sounds and looks great. I went with a white confetti cake mix and made some truffles using cream cheese frosting and some with a lemon frosting, just for variety, all coated with white chocolate.
One thing to note though, is that while this recipe is beyond simple in procedure, it is very time intensive, at least the first time you make it. It took me one night and one whole afternoon to complete everything, with most of the time spent on repetition of simple steps. Still, it was definitely worth the hard work! I was able to make about 70 cake truffles from the recipe, and they are absolutely delicious - it is surprising how moist the cake centers are! I guess when I first went to make this recipe I envisioned the cake centers to be like little balls of the boxed cake, as if I had taken a melon baller and just scooped out rounded cake bites. But really with the frosting mixed in, the taste and texture is entirely different, very moist and decadent. These would be perfect to bring to a party, and they look great when they're done! I'll definitely be adding this one to my repertoire to bring to future dinner parties.